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UPSC Prelims 1980 · Environment · Species Watch

Which bird has a chisel like bill?

Show the answer and explanation

Answer: (c) Woodpecker

Woodpeckers use a straight, chisel-like bill to drill into wood for insects.

The idea

A bird’s beak is a tool shaped by its food. Look at the beak and you can tell how the bird feeds.

Chisel: woodpecker drills wood for insects → Hook: eagle and parrot tear flesh or crack hard seeds → Short cone: sparrow cracks grain → Long thin curve: sunbird sips nectar → Flat with a sieve: duck and flamingo strain water

Why the others are wrong

(a) Parrots have a hooked, curved beak for cracking seeds.

(b) Nightingales have a slender insect-eating bill.

(d) The woodchuck is not a bird — it is a rodent (groundhog).

The trap

“Woodchuck” sounds like a bird. It is a marmot.

Also know

A woodpecker also has two toes pointing forward and two back for gripping bark, a stiff tail to prop itself, and a very long tongue to pull insects out. The woodchuck is a North American marmot.

🔒 Woodpecker: chisel bill, zygodactyl feet, stiff tail for support.

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